Software sales up 10 per cent for GameStop
Hardware sales see 20 per cent fall, total sales for chain hit $3.02 billion
Retailer GameStop saw $3.02 billion in total sales for the Christmas period, with an almost 10 per cent increase in game software sales.
Overall there was less than 1 per cent growth for the chain but game sales rose by 9.9 per cent. Pre-owned software sales saw an increase of 3.5 per cent compared the holiday period of 2010.
Digital sales grew 60 per cent, a rise attributed to Call of Duty Elite subscriptions.
A lack of new consoles and static price points on the market meant a drop of 19.6 per cent in hardware sales.
"During the holiday, our solid sales performance of new high-def console software was offset by weak Wii software sales and hardware sales due to the lack of new hardware offerings versus the 2010 period," said CEO Paul Raines.
"We were pleased with the performance of our buy-sell-trade business, digital offerings and mobile initiatives. GameStop also retired the remainder of its long-term debt establishing a debt-free balance sheet as we go into 2012."
The figures represent a nine week period ending December 31.